New Blood
by Martin79
Summary: Buffy has a new crush. My first fic so please review


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New Blood

By

Martin79

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Rating: PG (contains swearing)

Feedback: Any would be helpful. Contact me at mthompson79@hotmail.com

Distribution: Would be brilliant but please ask first

Main Character: Buffy Summers (but all of the core Scooby Gang are included)

Background: This story is set during Season 2 somewhere between _Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered_ and _Passion_

Disclaimer: All _Buffy_ characters copyrighted to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy etc. All originals copyrighted to the author.

~ 

"Ten, a definite ten"

"Nah, I'd say more of an eight"

"An eight! A measly eight?" Buffy turned to look at Willow disapprovingly.

"Well, uh, maybe an eight and a half?" she offered nervously, backing away from Buffy.

The slayer and her friend were standing against their lockers observing the busy corridors of Sunnydale High School between periods. Neither felt an urgency to get to gym class, it was the only lesson Willow couldn't excel at and, although Buffy was in great physical shape, she saw it as an extension of her training. History and Math may be boring but at least they were a release from the supernatural world for a few hours. Instead of hurrying along like most of the student body, they used their time by studying other student bodies, namely that of a group boys chatting on the opposite side of the corridor. Their patchy maroon and yellow jackets bore the logo of the Sunnydale High Razorbacks Football team.

"Eight and a half!" Buffy's voice grew louder.

"Ok, ok, ten. Just don't talk sternly to me anymore, you're getting shouty."

"Am I really shouty?"

"Verge of. You really like Tad Mumford, huh? Do I hear the sound of lunch tray's clicking together? 'Hi, is anyone sitting here?' 'Oh, dear, I've just spilt juice on my extremely short skirt. Would you help me to clean it off in my bedroom, Mr. Tall, Strong, Football Player?" she said slightly mimicking Buffy's voice. 

"My routine that predictable, huh?" answered Buffy, trying to pull down her skirt without Willow noticing.

"I think they teach it now to 6th graders," replied Willow with a smile.

"Hello, ladies. Whatcha doing?" Xander Harris bounded up to join them, flushed and clearly out of breath. He had left their Math lesson quite hurriedly with Cordelia for the Janitor's closet opposite the classroom.

"Hey, Xand, the missus not with you?" asked Buffy. "Thankfully,"

"Nope, she's spending some quality time with the Cordy gang. So, what we up to? What's the topic of the day?"

"Cute boy spotting," said Willow. "Tad Mumford, Buffy's new crush. What's your verdict?"

"He's a…um…handsome…enough chap" he uttered nervously, a few beads of sweat visible on his forehead as he stuttered. 

Both Buffy and Willow turned to look at him, trying to hold back their laughter.

"Well what do you expect? I'm a guy, big manly guy. I have chest hairs, or...at least I did. Ok, well, what about her?" he stuttered, pointing to the pretty brunette cheerleader that had just joined the football players. "The lovely Lisa Lowenstein, how would you do if asked you to grade her?" 

"Oh, nine" answered Willow instantly with a confident but innocent tone of voice and a half smile on her face.

"Check out KD Lang," replied Buffy. 

Willow looked slightly embarrassed, her face now bright red.

"Hey, don't look at me like that with your judgy eyes," she said nervously, trying to explain. "I've spent a lot of time in Xander's room over the years, exposure to that many Playboy's and girlie mags for so long can…"

"So, Buff…" interrupted Xander. "Gonna march across No Mans Land and make a love connection?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I feel good. I can do this only…later" 

"No, go now, seize the moment, that's what you told me…" Willow told her. "Okay, so I nearly got eaten by a vampire, but the advice still stands…I think. I won't take no for an answer. Unless that is your answer, of course," demanded Willow meekly.

"Ok, I know not to argue with that by now. Right, I will. I will cross the desert, walk through the fire. Later, guys," she said determinedly, walking towards the group.

"She'll crash, Titanic style," said Xander.

"Iceberg ahead," added Willow.

"Bronze. Tonight. Eight. Buffy's going on a date," sang Buffy, smiling, sitting in her usual seat at the large wooden table in the centre of the school library.

"And Willow had every faith in her," said Willow hugging her friend.

"Did you say a date?" said Rupert Giles, looking up briefly from a book on Fungus Demons. "You haven't forgotten it's the festival of St. Augentitious in a fortnight's time?"

"No, not forgotten, just unpronounceable," said Buffy meekly, trying not to bring on Giles' wrath.

"Buffy! I'm very disappointed in you. The vampires will be feeding more frequently and turning more of their victims. You need to be patrolling every single night!" he said sternly.

"Giles, chill. I'll patrol before and after, total cemetery coverage or your money back."

"A quick look up and an intake of air between snogs, I suppose," he quipped.

"'Snogs'? Is that, like, a British drink or something? Is it like beer?" asked Willow.

"I promise not a drop will pass my sweet, luscious, lips," smiled Buffy.

"And we can patrol too. All of us, the whole A-Team," Willow said. "Please, Giles, a little slayer R 'n' R?" 

"A snog is not a beverage, it's a…oh, what's the point," he said with a sigh. "All right, you can go as long you're quick and remain focused on your work."

"Yes, Chief!" saluted Buffy. "Mind focused, brain switched on and into slayage mode. So, what do you think I should wear? What do football players like?" she added turning to Willow. 

"Something smart and ladylike, but not too ice maideny. Something sexy…oh, wait, but not that it makes you look like a whore. How about reserved, yet slutty?" Willow stuttered 

"I think I can do that. Reserved slutty. Hmm, sounds a bit like…"

"Urgh! Why does is always smell like musty death in here?"

"Cordelia!" said Buffy with an elated tone of voice.

Cordelia Chase entered the library hand in hand with Xander. She was wearing a light blue shirt, covered up by a red sweater vest, a black mini skirt and carrying a pile of books on various subjects. Here she seemed to embrace Xander with a lot more passion. They looked like a proper couple rather than in the school hallways when they travelled from class to class. It was like in here she could finally let go and show her true feelings towards him.

"Nice outfit," added Buffy, giving Cordelia a quick glance up and down.

"_You_ like it! Oh, God, is it that unfashionable already? I knew it, you start dating a loser and…"

"Hey!" interrupted Xander.

"…And before you know it, you've become a total Gidget with monster gloop all over your Gucci's. It happened to my friend Cici the time she…"

"Cordelia, enough. I just have a date and I…could use…your…some advice…" Buffy added through gritted teeth.

"Well, I'll need a week, perhaps two. No, the hair alone may take a week…" she said looking Buffy up and down, fussing around her and pushing her hair in all sorts of directions. "But I'm prepared to take you on."

"I-it will, it can't…" stuttered Buffy.

"Who is he anyway? It's not anyone I know, is it? God, I hope not."

"Tad Mumford, football player hottie," said Willow enthusiastically.

"It astounds me how you Americans can call that game football," chipped in Giles. "The ball is kicked once and that's it, the ball's is carried for the rest of the game. At least in English football the ball is in contact with the foot in order to play the game for the duration, yet you christen it soccer. What does that mean anyway?"

"I hate football players. Good looking, tall, athletic. It's disgusting," said Xander.

"He's jealous, throws like a girl," replied Cordelia, still playing with Buffy's hair. "Ooh, hey, I remember Tad though."

"I have weak wrists, that's all. It's my genes. If my grandfather hadn't had his hand shot during the war I could've been Joe Montana," complained Xander.

"Oh, sweetie, of course you couldn't," replied Cordelia, searching her bright pink bag and bringing out a small blue book decorated with hearts. "Ok, here we go, M…M…Marsh …Morris" she said flicking through the pages.

"I've heard about this. Cordelia's little black…erm…turquoise book. The legends say it contains every guy in the school," whispered Willow to Buffy.

"A real Encyclopaedia Boytannica," she replied.

"Let's see Mumford…aha," she said with an air of self-satisfaction before handing the volume to Buffy who read through it with great interest.

"Urgh, does he really have that?" she asked pointing to an entry.

"Ok, he swore to me he started taking the pills, but no great crisis. Ah, here's your potential problem, Chris Westerburgh. Best of bests. We're talking separated at birth here. Tad and Chris do everything…well, almost everything together…" she said blushing slightly.

"Oooh, Tad got 4 stars," chipped in Willow.

"Am I in there? Let me see," asked Xander buzzing around Buffy.

"Let's see, Harris…Harris… Nope, drawing a blank…hey!" said Buffy as Xander ripped the book from her fingertips.

"I'm not in here? But I'm your boyfriend, don't I get a rating? Unless, of course, I've completely blown your system," he said smiling.

"Aww, sweetie, you're so cute when you're deluded," Cordelia said sweetly. "Anyway, you won't get rated until the break up."

"Xander Harris: The Retrospective. I can live with that," he said, mildly triumphant still flicking through the pages. "Hey, why is Jonathon in here?"

"Ok, ok, time up. I'll go get my stuff and we'll make you a total Gwyneth," she said taking the book back, throwing it back in her bag and bouncing out of the room.

"Get comfortable, people. We're gonna be here for at least a week," noted Xander. "The Army takes less time planning wars than her makeovers. So, Buff, how does it feel to be a potential mini-Cordy?"

"Nauseating," Buffy told him. "But a girl's gotta do what a girl's…do you think she's had enough time to seal all the exits off yet?"

"She made me over once in Junior High," said Willow. "Brought this large backpack in loaded with powders, glosses and weird smells like Pandora's Make-Up Box."

"And the result?"

"Franken-Barbie as I recall," chipped in Xander. 

"Uh-huh, only looking more like me. My mom was horrified when she found out. She frog-marched me home and un-Barbied me and I was, like, five hours in the tub. Apparently it was the paint of Beelzebub."

"Is this the same woman who swears by her midnight pink lipstick?" said Buffy.

"Now, Buffy, if you are to go on this…er…date you must…" started Giles, emerging out of his office.

"Girls moment, Giles, wouldn't interrupt," warned Xander.

"I assume this is about hair again," he replied.

Buffy moaned and slumped over the table in front of her, arms folded. It was going to be a long day.

"Tell me again why you wanna, uh, walk through the cemetery, baby?" said Tad as he walked arm in arm with Buffy past a row of various epitaphs.

"It's, um, very romantic, very quiet. In fact, you need quietness to make the, uh, romance. Can't do without it," answered Buffy, too busy looking around for signs of supernatural activity to properly listen to her date's musings.

"You don't, uh, get…turned on by…"

"No. No!" interrupted Buffy "I just like looking at the moon, the stars and…it's quiet. Did I mention that, the quietness? Y'know, it's almost too quiet."

"Yeah, I get that, but it's kinda nice," he said moving his arm further around her waist making Buffy feel happier, but more uncomfortable if she had to break free any minute to attack something.

The conversation ground to a halt for a while as they both took in the night air and thought about the next step of their evening. Tad was a great deal taller than Buffy, and he stood towering above her like a tree, a giant oak, large in both height and weight, but in almost perfect shape. He needed to be, football was his life. He wore his Sunnydale High football jacket, the same one he had been wearing in the school hallway that day. In fact, his clothes had changed very little since then, as he wore smarter jeans and a T-shirt with fewer stains down it. Buffy was slightly annoyed that he hadn't said a thing about what she was wearing, even after the Cordelia Chase special. Once she arrived back home she had managed to tone it down slightly, although she wore a white, almost see through top, and a black, pleated mini-skirt, deciding not to erase it completely. After all, Cordelia had been out with most of the football team, there must be something in it. 

"So…you were a cheerleader?" Tad asked after a while.

"Mm-hmm, but I …uh….gave it up cos of the witch…um weird itch…yeah, pom-poms brought me out in a rash. Terrible. Whole, big blotchiness," Buffy replied.

"Nasty. Y'know, they should fix that. I heard some girl went blind cos of that. I have that problem, too. They have to make my jacket out of a different material to the rest of the teams, brings me out in hives. Feel that," he said thrusting his arm at her. 

Buffy felt up and down the arm of his jacket and agreed, touching his tight muscles at the same time and feeling a tingle run through her body. She rubbed gently, turned around to face him and gazed into his eyes. You know, maybe Restfield Cemetery wasn't such a bad place to bring a date after all. Forcefully, he moved forward with a slobbery, mouth-crunching kiss, catching Buffy off guard. Briefly, she tried to resist, but took hold of his head and guided his lips, slowing him down until it became powerful yet tender, and she began to enjoy it. As the kissing intensified and his arm moved around her back, she began to relax.

"Dude!" a cry came from over by a hilltop.

"Dude!" shouted Tad, looking up, unlocking his lips and yanking his arm away from Buffy to turn and face the caller.

"So what's with all the 'dude'?" asked Buffy, suddenly jerked out of the romantic, dreamy mood she had lapsed into.

"That guy up there, Brad Killick, star quarterback over at Seabrook High," he told her. He looked back at the other guy. "Dude, we are gonna whip your ass on Saturday! Wooah!! Wait here, baby, I won't be long," he said running over to join his friend.

Buffy sighed, well and truly out of her dreamy mood and was beginning to edge the other way into sadness, as she sat on top of one of the gravestones, and subsequently feeling all the muck and dirt seeping through her skirt. There wasn't any sign of Giles and the others. Perhaps the forces of evil couldn't be bothered tonight, which was a plus to her. She looked at her watch, in the whole two hours worth of date she had only had only been alone with Tad for half an hour. When they arrived at The Bronze that evening, Tad's friend Chris was already there with his date, Romana Mendez. The two boys had talked together the whole evening and barely gave their dates a look in, leaving Buffy to try and make conversation with Romana, a pretty but joyless girl of Spanish origin that only seemed to be happy when discussing her shoes. Chris seemed to be quieter than Tad and more reluctant to take part in their discussions about football tactics and what new prank they could play on Principal Snyder. In fact, he had tried to steer the talk into other ways and trying to involve Romana and Buffy who made little contribution, mainly because they didn't have any opinion on the boys' topics.

Buffy felt that tingle run through her body again, but this time it was a beetle crawling up her back and leapt up in disgust, brushing it off. Cordelia had demanded that her clothes had to be fully cleaned ('disinfected' had been her actual words) before they were returned, so Buffy was keen not to up the bill as much as possible when realising how much filth was on the stone. This was also the first time she had noticed that her right foot, complete with one half of Cordy's black pumps, had submerged into the earth, the ground having recently been disturbed. She knelt down and read the name on the stone, which was actually quite new, but then that was nothing special in Sunnydale. 

"Bradley John Killick – Beloved son and brother. 1981 – 1998," she read to herself. A sinking feeling came over her, a crush in her heart, like she already knew what had happened. Looking up at the hilltop where she had last seen Tad, she now saw a body lying motionless.

"Perhaps he's just having a rest. Perhaps they're both just lying down chewing the fat. Not that it's anybody at all, could be a log or…or a really big squirrel…" she babbled to herself, knowing that it could never be the truth. There was only one possible explanation for what had happened and she had been too blind to see it. Examining Tad's body she found the two tell-tale puncture wounds in the neck. She took out her cell phone and flicked through the numbers: Police, Hospital, Mortuary, specialist dry cleaners. Any normal girl would have her many friend's numbers or some snooty hair salon, but not her. She decided instead to use the normal route '911'. She passed over Giles' name a few times, but she could almost hear what he would say and she would have to face that tomorrow. The vampire Brad would be long gone by now, but Buffy made up her mind to search all night anyway. He would reappear sooner or later, but she had to keep her mind occupied, keeping all her feelings of grief and sadness at bay. 

Buffy wouldn't have had far to look for Brad as he was hiding only a few yards away, behind a large stone tomb. He was a fairly tall guy, blond hair, blue eyes and had the same kind of build as Tad. They would be almost alike if it weren't for Brad's lankier appearance and slimmer face. Standing next to him was another vampire about the same height, but with spiky black hair and a long, dark, leather coat, who watched Buffy crying her heart out with an amount of glee.

"Was that ok? Did I do good?" Brad asked.

"I never tire of that look," the other vampire said. "Y'know, the one where they fully realise the guy's never coming back. Best ones look upward and pray '_oh, he was so good. Why was he taken from us?_' But I forget you've not been raised long. I gotta say, though, why would anyone that decent be out at this time anyway? They should be tucked up in their little beddy-byes with milk, cookies, and Brady Bunch Re-runs. I hate virgin blood anyway. Anyone will tell you, Bart, virgins are no good, so pure, there's no flavour. It's the bad ones that provide the richness and the fire in their blood. Yeah, you did good, but be more careful. She almost saw you."

"It's Brad, man, but don't ever ask me to neck a guy again, strictly chicks from now on. First one will be blondie over there, and then there's this Goth chick at school who was totally into death and she was way into me too. Think I'll show her what it's really like," Brad replied with a swagger.

"You're giving me orders now, Pigskin? You'll bite what I tell you to, and Blondie's my special project. You take one wrong step and either of us will send you back underground permanently. She's a slayer, know what that is? No? Well, she's the only reason you're up here and not still in that rotting sideboard your inbred parents call a coffin." 

"Ok, listen, jelly head, I…" Brad protested, but the vampire grabbed him by the neck and slammed his body up against the tomb.

"Name's Angelus, punk" he growled "and it will be the last one you'll ever hear." 

He grabbed a stake from his pocket and punched it through Brad's eye.

"Oops, missed," he sneered.

This time he finished the job, stabbing it through Brad's heart. He crumbled into a large pile of dust that streaked down the wall.

"Thanks for the favour, keep in touch now," smiled Angelus, turning his back and blending away into the night.

A few days later Buffy found herself back in Restfield Cemetery accompanied by Giles, Willow and Xander. They had only arrived an hour ago but had already slain 6 vampires, and it showed, too. A variety of cuts and bruises were gradually showing up on everyone, except Buffy, that is. Buffy's wounds always seemed to heal really quickly except where it really mattered - to her, anyway. Still broken hearted from Angel's defection to the dark side, she now had a new love struck down, not knowing whether he would rise again. The funeral had been earlier that day and she wasn't looking forward to possibly meeting up with him again, on opposite sides of the afterlife. But her main quarry was Brad. This wasn't a regular patrol but a fully-fledged hunt. Once she had dusted her 4th vamp that night, she moved straight over to Tad's grave, stake in hand.

"A watched corpse never rises you know," said Xander, kneeling down beside her, his bones cracked slightly as he was the most dirt-covered and visibly-scarred of the gang. "This isn't your fault, Buffy. Everyone takes their eye off the ball once in a while."

"It's my job, though. I shouldn't have taken my eye off Tad. I should've gone with him. I have to be able to spot a vampire in a crowd, the living from the dead and I'm only 90% sure he's not going to rise tonight. God, just reading the obituary column once in a while would clue me up more. It's the paper's responsibility. They shouldn't print the comic's page before."

"Just think how many lives would be saved if only Garfield wasn't so damned hilarious!" said Xander in a mock rage and clenching his fist.

"Stupid orange fuzz-ball," muttered Buffy. "So, tell me, why weren't you guys here again? I thought back up was supposed to be around?"

"Ok, for the last time, we started out at the hospital, new blood delivery, remember? Then onto the graveyard shift."

"But there were five of you?"

"We had…well… Hey, you would've thought the Mumfords would make a better effort, only son and all, this earth's all plowed up and these flowers are just lying arou…uh-oh."

"I second that uh-oh. He's risen. Damnit, I really should check these things. He must've sneaked out when that gang of four attacked and headed toward the town," she said, sounding more agitated and nervous, but yet determined.

Suddenly a scream rang out from the direction of the town centre.

"We have to go now! Giles!" she cried, looking over to see her watcher fighting a battle of his own. Giles and Willow were still fighting in another part of the cemetery with a vampire dressed like a punk.

"I'm a little engaged at the moment, Buffy. Help would be appreciated!" he shouted, narrowly avoiding a punch. Willow grabbed onto the creature's back and tried to blind it with her hands, at least long enough for Giles to dust it, but it threw her back.

"Did I get it?" she mumbled as Xander picked her up.

Giles kicked the vampire in the chest as he turned around, propelling it into a bush. Buffy marched over and, grabbed the creature by the collar of its black jacket and thrust it backward onto on of the bush's branches, covering the plant with dust.

"Now can we go?" she added impatiently.

"Did I get it? Was that me?" mumbled Willow, visibly shaken up as Xander helped her to her feet, comforting her with his arm.

"Yeah, sweetie, it was. You were awesome," he replied.

"Oh, ok. Is my hair really that blond? I don't like my shoes either." 

"Then we'll get you some new ones in town, just put one foot in front of the other. Ok, there we go. Coming, G.I Giles?" he said, walking with Willow and shouting over to the Watcher. Giles looked dumbfounded at what just happened, he still could scarcely believe the extent of Buffy's strength sometimes, how a vampire he was grappling with for so long could be so easily disposed of in a matter of seconds by a girl half his size.

"Yes. Yes, ok."

"Slayer scorned, Giles. Powerful thing," noted Xander putting his other arm around Giles and ushering them both towards the Sunnydale town centre.

An hour later Giles turned the corner of Brock Street and Toledo Avenue, arriving outside the Alma Café, out of breath and glad of the opportunity to rest in one of the chairs set up outside. He looked at his watch, it was thirty-five minutes since he had last been here and he was five minutes late for meeting the others. They had agreed to split up, do a quick search of the town centre and then share information before progressing in the search for Tad. Giles thought that perhaps it all was a bit fruitless, just searching for one vampire when who knows how many would rise tonight and try to feed therefore they should concentrate their energies at the source - the cemetery - but Buffy wouldn't be told. He thought it was best to let her try and attain some closure on the events of the week for her own well-being, and then she could get back to her studies and slaying. Almost as quickly as he sat down, Giles leapt up again as Buffy, Willow and Xander came around the corner all holding smoothies of various depths and each wearing a guilty look on their faces. Buffy looked down at her watch.

"Ooops, tardiness alert, guys. Who was timekeeper?" she said turning to the others.

"Not me, I have no time at all," said Willow showing her bare wrists to the group, still baring the scars of the fight.

"I may not be Timekeeper, but I am the Keymaster!" boomed Xander in a mocking voice. 

He looked around at the other's blank faces 

"Buffy…it was Buffy," he said bashfully. 

"My uh-oh, I'm bad," added Buffy sheepishly, slurping on her drink.

"It will not do. If we said to meet at a certain time then I expect us all to be aware of it," said Giles pompously.

"Did we keep you waiting long? When did you arrive?" asked Willow.

"That isn't the issue here. Anyway, did you find Todd or Tap or whatever his name is?" he added, slightly flustered.

"Every nook and cranny poked into. No vamp," said Willow, taking a sip.

"We searched everywhere, Giles. He must've come straight through here without even feeding. There's no sign of any disturbance," added Buffy, slurping on her drink again.

"What about the scream?" queried Giles.

"Human, barely," Buffy said, as the three of them slurped, "It came from The Bronze, Harmony and Cordelia arrived wearing the same outfit. Big cat-fight."

"When? Why? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Oh, God, I knew there was somewhere I had to be tonight," said Xander, sounding agitated. "Cordy urgently wanted me along at this boring birthday thing for this friend she can't stand. Guys, call later. Cat-fight…oh, man, why did I have to miss that?" he added, handing Buffy his drink and dashing off back around the corner.

"Oh, great. One man down now, bloody brilliant, and a dangerous vampire that's disappeared straight into the…where did you get those from?" Giles said, looking at the smoothies as the annoying noise of the slurping started to grate.

"Espresso Pump, three for the price of one," said Willow guiltily.

He turned his attention to his slayer "You're supposed to be looking for the vampire and you decide to stop off for refreshments? Well, that's just fine. I'm very disappointed in you, especially since you seemed to be more eager than most to catch him, and it was your fault in particular…"

"Hey!" Buffy protested.

"If you hadn't have been so insistent on going on this date you wouldn't have been slacking in your duties. The young man in particular may even have survived had you not dragged him through the cemetery."

"At your request, Giles! You were supposed to be supplying the back-up here!"

"Guys, chill, please," protested Willow, trying in vain to break up the fight. "We still have to find Tad." 

"Very well, my apologies," said Giles. "But the way you just think nothing of breaking away for drinks says a lot about your attitude to duty, that's all. And I suppose you never thought to buy one for me." 

"Hello, Giles? Major sweep. We split up, checked every known vamp hangout plus anywhere he was likely to feed. There was no sign of panic or distress, which is unusual for this town. I'm seriously low on ideas here. And we did buy you one…er…here…" protested Buffy, handing him Xander's half-full cup.

"Is it cherry?" he replied.

"Strawberry. So what's our next move?"

"It will do, I suppose. Next we should check out friends, or anyone he may have a grudge against."

"First thing vampires do is feed, right? Why didn't he just go for someone in the town centre?" asked Willow.

"Yeah, probably some unexpected virgin. Curly blond hair, big blue eyes, flowery dress and suspect British accent. I don't get it either. Why would a vamp pass up all this free meaty goodness?" added Buffy.

"'Free meaty goodness'?" asked Willow.

"Change of career needed I think," said Buffy, slightly embarrassed.

"Chasing…er…virgins is not always the case. Surprisingly, vampires can be rather poetic and indeed ironic creatures. You must remember that they still have traces of humanity left in them as well as the subject's memories. I read in the Watcher's journals some years ago about a teenager in Oregon who, when he was turned in 1965, his first act was to kill his high-school principal and proceeded to go after his teachers one by one." 

"Eeew, imagine Snyder as a vamp. Now that's scary!" added Willow.

"Y'know, that could really put the enjoyment into slaying," replied Buffy.

"Since I have been presently reading up on Angel," continued Giles, "I discovered that his first act was to slaughter his entire family, starting with his tyrant of a father. Therefore, it is entirely conceivable that Tad would go after some one he knows or has a grudge against. The first kill can be very significant."

"Oooh, oooh," piped up Willow, "Chris, what about Chris his friend? Buffy, do you still have the Cordy file?"

"The what?" asked Giles.

"Cordy file - or version of. More of a handy fact-sheet actually. Every known fact about Tad," explained Buffy, fishing about in her coat pocket for the paper.

"Aha…eeeww, left over chewy minty thing. Here we go," she said throwing the furry candy away and unfolding the paper.

"Does he really have that?" asked Giles peering over her shoulder. "I think I might have to burn a few items when I return to the library." 

"Y'know, Will, I'm surprised he never came back for me. I was his girlfriend, right? Well, the last one anyway. I'm kinda insulted, I thought he liked me. There's no justice!" said Buffy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure another vampire will come along soon and sweep you off your feet…well, again. At least you _know_ he's evil this time or…or not under a gypsy curse, no secrets. That's got to be a good thing," replied Willow.

"I could change him, couldn't I? Make him not so evil?"

"I think it would be a lost cause."

"Wow, going steady with a vampire and a werewolf. Where are we, a 1930's horror flick? 'I double dated with Dracula and the Wolfman' we…Hey!!" Buffy shouted as Giles ripped the sheet from her hand.

"Right, Chris Westerburgh, 134 Burnside Drive. Let's go," ordered Giles "And hopefully we can bring about an end to both this evening and this conversation," he added under his breath.

Chris Westerburgh is an insomniac. He naps when and where he can, whenever he feels the tiredness creeping in, which explained a lot of his bad grades. Sometimes it even got so bad that he became overtired and began to hear, see and think things that weren't there or were just plain nonsense. Once, he spent the best part of an hour searching around his room for a plastic tub that he attached some kind of significance to, until he actually stopped and asked himself why he was looking for it. Lying awake on top of his bed seemed like a waste of time, so it's not as if the breaking of his bedroom window woke him up or even startled him at all. He hadn't had much sleep in the past few days either, not since Tad, his best friend of more than ten years, had been murdered so brutally and his burial been so fast. Tad's parents were never going to win the prize for Sunnydale's most doting couple, indeed it had all seemed so mechanical and hardly any emotion at all registered on their faces and it was like they had just put the family hamster in a shoebox and walked away back to their lives, not wanting to waste time on grieving. Chris was already doing more than enough for the three of them. Since Tad was constantly on his mind, Chris thought it perfectly normal that he should see him standing at the foot of the bed, looking strangely healthy and wearing the same black suit and football jacket that he was buried in. After all, he had probably only amassed about 4 hours rest in the past two days. 

"Chris? Chris, it's me. I'm back, man, I'm back," spoke the vision.

"Just my mind playing tricks again," he said to himself, turning over in the bed and purposely closing his eyes to avoid seeing it.

"I heard that. It's not, it's me, and I'm back, better than ever," it grew impatient. "Get up! Look at me, you stupid Bastard!" 

The bed started rocking, Chris turned back and looked. 'Tad' was trying to smash it. 

One last throw lifted the bed off its wooden legs and sent its occupant onto the floor.

Chris sat in a slump on his carpet, a mass of blankets and blood that was rapidly pouring out of his head after he slammed it into the wall upon his descent. 

"Oh, my God! Who or…or what are you? I…we…we buried you. We buried you, and you're standing in front of me…you can't be. I won't believe it," he stammered.

Tad didn't say anything for a while. He just stood looking at the trickle of blood slipping down his friend's forehead. He had misunderstood the hunger for blood that accompanied becoming a vampire. Brad had said something shortly before his death that he didn't really understand. Now he was drooling, salivating, and thought nothing of ripping Chris's head off, only the pang of his past memories stopped him from doing so. Tad could feel his mouth turning dry as he watched. Soon, he thought, just a while longer.

"You're really here?" Chris finally said. "I believe it's you. No weird hallucination could've done that." 

"Not unless you've been smoking some of that stuff we took at Dan's party last year," Tad grinned, his hunger growing so much that he vamped his face. 

"Dude, you remembered! Hey, it really is you! Hey what happened to your face?"

"I'm a vampire, man. I feel so alive. Brad Killick's my sire, he brought me back. You wouldn't believe what I've been through in the last week."

"Damn Seabrook, always tryna find some way to screw us. Remember last year after the game while we where in the showers they replaced our clothes and uniforms with their cheerleaders outfits? Man, that was so embarrassing."

"I remember, we ran all the way back here, to this room, in those tiny skirts. You were lucky, you had your spare uniform but you gave that to Joe and walked back with me through the streets. I owe you for that," Tad said apologetically. 

"You're my bud. I couldn't let you do that alone. So is this just another of Brad's tricks?"

"No, he's dead. He's a vampire too."

"Bummer. Dude was one of the best; " Chris said hanging his head.

"No, man, don't mourn. Brad's better than he's ever been and so am I. I feel more alive in my death, if that makes sense. And I want you to join me to be my first kill and my partner in crime, like always. Whad'ya say?" said Tad bending down and looking Chris straight in the eye, taking his concentration off the blood for the first time.

Buffy reached Chris's house first, Giles and Willow were constantly breathless trying to keep up with her. She scanned the house for a way in and for any signs that Tad was here and Chris needed her help. Looking around she realised that Chris's parents were more than aware of the trouble that comes with owning an address in Sunnydale. The house had many security devices present around it although there was nothing to prevent the more common supernatural forces from breaking in apart from a small crucifix nailed to the door, although this could be intended in an ironic way. Residents were always joking about putting bundles of garlic outside their houses for keeping vampires at bay, little realising the truth. Buffy ran past the broken window and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Chris slumped against the wall, blood pouring down his side and Tad licking his lips. Chris was alive, though, and all they seemed to be doing was talking, at least for now, and buying her some time to get in. Tad looked up, sniffing around, and she dove into the bushes to disguise her scent. Looking for a way in, she spied an open skylight and headed toward the roof.

"C'mon, Chris. Man, you just keep starring at me."

"Tad, I don't want to die. I'm 17. I wanna go to college, play ball and become a doctor like my dad. I want to get married to some hot girl, have lots of kids and retire to Florida. I have all that, my whole life in front of me," Chris pleaded.

"You won't be dead – well, not for long. I'm offering you a whole different lifestyle from…well, from life, one un-associated with this world. We can live forever, have any chicks we want do whatever the hell we wanna do and we can do it together. You always wanted more than me. I never had the brains you have, but I was popular, man. I remember not too long ago I rescued you. Kirsty Lomax dumped you and you nearly jumped form the roof, and I brought you back and I made you popular again. You were nothing, and now I'm gone, you'll be nothing again, just a sad loser who will end up killing himself within a week. At least this way you get to live and start again. You deserve to die. You're nothing without me," Tad said with a wild glint in his eye.

"Why are you being like this? I still have a lot to live for," Chris added quietly.

"And what's that? Romana? Don't make me laugh. Sylvester and Tweety Pie have a better chance together than you guys. So what else? Football? You're one of the worst players I've ever seen."

"Like you had a better life, Tad"

"Maybe not, but I sure do now, and you could, too. Man, no-one would miss you. Sure, your parents might even shed a tear in between meetings if you're lucky."

"That's not true. They've always supported me."

"For their own ends, man. To make you one of them, forcing you to become a doctor, too, because it wouldn't do to have an unpopular drop-out for a son."

"You don't know them. Anyway, your parents weren't much better. I was at your funeral, remember?" Chris snarled holding back his tears. 

"Sure, they would make sure you had a nice new black suit and a shiny coffin, just to show everyone else they invite how much they care, but I bet they wouldn't spend any bucks on remorse or counselling for their grief. They're deadbeats just like mine. They prefer Sandy anyway."

"She had better breaks than me," muttered Chris.

"Sandy was naturally popular while you had to link onto me, and don't pretend we're that greater friends."

"Maybe not in the beginning, but it wasn't like that, man," he pleaded 

"Deny it all you like, but you used me, your best and only friend. Now you've got no-one."

"Then why would you want me around you for the rest of eternity" Chris added, tearfully.

"That's just it, man. We can put the past behind us and start again with a clean slate, together." 

Buffy appeared in the doorway behind Tad, Chris noticed her immediately and his heart started beating faster. He couldn't believe it when Tad managed to get a date with her, but he wasn't sure why she was here. Perhaps she was still in love with him. Maybe she was a vampire too. Tad could've visited her first, but then she didn't have the fangs or the frowning face thing that Tad was doing. They had the same look in their eyes though: a hunter's look. A killer instinct. And Chris had seen it before, often when he was playing football, but Buffy was looking at Tad in the same way that Tad was looking at him. He knew that he could trust her.

Buffy herself didn't know what to think as she battled her heart and her head. Seeing the boys talking so calmly she knew Chris wasn't in any danger – well, not just yet anyway, so she felt more compassionate and more inclined to leave them to it and say their goodbyes to each other or whatever it was they were saying. Some people never got to say their goodbyes, even though she knew that it wasn't really Tad stood in front of her, it was a beast in his shell, a demon wearing his skin in order to murder, so therefore she must do her job and kill him. Her crush on Tad did nothing to deter her. She was ready for action, waiting for her moment but couldn't help staring at his thick blond hair and his strong, broad shoulders. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that these were the problems that she would have to overcome to defeat Angel.

"I can survive without you. I'm better now and I want to live so just go," Chris continued to protest tears streaming down his face.

"Last quarter, man, not much time left. You just don't understand the power I have and that I could give to you. I've asked nicely, but I guess I'll just have to show you. Time out!" Tad vamped his face again and his look grew meaner and nastier as rational thinking gave way to the monster inside and its fierce hunger. He moved closer and licked the trickling blood off Chris's face, now terrified, as he felt closer to death.

"Y'know, Tad, I don't think Coach Stevenson ever put that one in the playbook," quipped Buffy.

"Come to join our team? We need a cheerleader!" said Tad turning around to face her.

"Yeah, why not? I wasn't doing anything this lifetime anyway," she said trying to draw Tad away from his victim. Tad looked confused.

"Take her. She's your girl, ain't she?" pleaded Chris.

"C'mon, do it. One juicy Buffy burger ripe for the necking," goaded the slayer.

"Tell you what," said Tad, turning back to Chris, "if I turn this chick will you join us?"

"Ok, I'll do it" Chris said solemnly. He knew the rumours about Buffy and what she did. He was more plugged into the Sunnydale High rumour mill than Tad. In fact, if it wasn't for his friend's interference, he wouldn't have joined the football team and the upper echelons of high school cool, even though he was the smartest of the team and would rather have been involved in more intellectual pursuits. Chris anticipated what was about to happen. He had purposely goaded Tad into taking Buffy even though it chilled him to act so selfishly. Usually he would've told her to run. He even accepted that he was about to lose his friend for the second time in a week.

Tad moved towards Buffy slowly, placed his hands on her hips and held her for a moment as she did the same and looked at him with a longing. The adrenaline rushed through her body as she stared into his eyes, lost in the moment. For a brief moment, to her at least, he was human again and looking lovingly at her. For a brief moment he was Angel as well. Tad's hot breath seeped down her neck as she felt him move in for the kill, his sharp teeth glistening in the dark, while she lowered her neck obligingly and he swept away her hair. She felt his teeth sweep, then break into her skin and then…nothing. Nothing but a shower of dust and ashes. As Tad was moving in Buffy had brought out a stake from the inside of her jacket and, as they embraced, she had driven it through his heart, shattering both his unearthly body and the moment.

"Was that him? Was that really Tad?" asked Chris a little unfazed at what had just happened. Buffy knew that it would be worse when it finally hit him.

"Kinda. Actual body, actual brain, only with a demon taking over the lease," she answered, bending down and comforting him. He had barely moved from the position he had landed in when Tad ejected him from the bed.

"So, it was just some monster that wanted to kill me because it knew Tad's memories and found me familiar?"

"Vampires have a lot of recall from their human lives. That thing was Tad, but a Tad without a soul. An evil double if you like."

"Because I wanted to for a minute. He began to make sense. I could escape everything. My parents are arguing again, schools boring… I mean, I never wanted to play football in the first place, but I suppose I don't have to. It's a choice I can make at least. I'd rather make mistakes than become a monster like…like Tad. Why are you here, anyway? Did you follow him?"

"I was…just passing, I, er, heard a…um…cat and…" she flustered.

"I've…I've heard things about you, I know what you do."

"Hey! The janitor said he was gonna clean off that graffiti from the guy's locker room…not that I've been in the guy's locker room you understand. It isn't even true…most of it…well… Erm, anyway, your folks must be, like, super sound sleepers."

"It's ok. I mean, I know you do good things. Wish I had the guts to do something like you. Don't worry about my parents. They're away at a medical conference in Wisconsin. They don't mind, the house is safe enough."

Suddenly there was another loud noise coming from one of the other rooms. Something else had come through the skylight.

"Stay there!" ordered Buffy to Chris as she jumped to her feet, dashed out the door, around the corner, through the corridor and into the den where she found Giles lying flat on the floor. Suddenly he sat up and clutched his head.

Looking up, Buffy discovered he had just come through the same skylight she had used to get into the house. "Hey there, Action Man," she said kneeling down beside him. "How's the melon?"

"Bruised slightly, but not as much as my ego, though. Still, at least I'm conscious this time, which is always a plus," he replied soberly.

"Wow, you squeezed through that? Been on a diet recently," she said looking up. "I mean, check out Giles the supermodel, because I would swear that…"

A whooshing noise came from the skylight and an object shot through and hit Buffy in the chest before she had a chance to finish her sentence or move out of the way. She looked up, bleary eyed, and found herself looking at the soles of a pair of sneakers that had large cartoon daisies imprinted on the bottom.

"Willow?" she croaked.

"Oh, God, Buffy, I'm so sorry. If Xander could see us now, huh?"

"I'll put that remark down to the concussion," she replied as Giles helped them up.

"You both ok?"

"Couple of bruises, no big. Slayer health plan, best in the world remember?" replied Buffy.

"I feel sudden wooziness," replied Willow.

"We'd better get off home then. I trust Tad is taken care of?" said Giles.

"Yup. Snarl, slay, poof, hilarious one-liner. The usual. Chris seemed unmoved by it. I don't think Tad's first death has really hit him yet."

"I'm sure he'll bounce back," said Giles, trying to comfort her, "He seems like an intelligent boy and these football player are naturally quite tough. Very thick skins, you know."

"Yeah, I suppose" replied Buffy, although she didn't fully believe it. "Perhaps some more than others".

Chris hardly noticed Buffy and the others creeping out of the house, standing in his doorway, or the stream of noises that kept coming form the den. He was busy sweeping up Tad's ashes and putting them into an old jam jar, the last few remains of his friend. The next day he would buy an urn to properly store them, an artefact that wouldn't leave his side for the next 60 years.

Buffy, Willow, and Giles, battered from their various scrapes, trudged away from Chris's house over a patch of parkland that would lead them back into the centre of town. Buffy looked down at her shoes, and sighed in despair at how filthy they were getting.

"So, Chris's gonna be ok, right? You looked in on him before we left, didn't you, Buffy?" said Willow after a while.

"Shaken and definitely stirred," replied Buffy. "He's definitely one to keep an eye on, but I think he'll make it, though. He's had a weird few days."

"Agreed," added Giles. "It can't be easy dealing with the death of a much loved friend twice, once in front of your very eyes. Worse to have him visit you as a monster and try to murder you."

"I still can't shake the feeling that that this is all Angel's idea of a Candid Camera and Chris just got caught in the crossfire."

"Angelus does have a reputation for torturing his victims in the most vicious and unusual ways before he kills them. You must mean an awful lot to him. You made him feel love for the first time in centuries and he's not going to forget that," said Giles.

"Turning your new dreamboat into a bloodsucker would certainly qualify for that," added Willow.

"Just what I need, to be numero uno on a psycho's hit list. And this time, I don't mean Snyder. Ok, from now on, I'm going to focus all my energies on bringing Angel down."

"Highly commendable" said Giles.

"I mean, Angel did this to test me, right? To break my spirit? Well, he's achieved the opposite. He's toughened me up. I feel badder, madder and more narked at him than ever. I need to be an emotional void to beat him. A rock. No more dates! He'll be dust in no time," Buffy said determinedly.

"A marvellous attitude to have. I'm glad to see my advice has paid off, after all. Focus on your slaying. He's just another vampire. That is just how you need to think," said Giles firmly.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with our Buffy?" quipped Willow.

"Nope. This is the all new and improved, focused Buffy. My only thoughts are the dusting of Angel. Any smoothie left?" she added with a smile. 

The End


End file.
